The SMSS can carry a squad's food supplies, water, batteries, heavy weapons, ammunition, survival gear and can even accommodate casualties. Besides transporting up to 600lbs (272 kg) of gear, the SMSS also provides two to four kilowatts of power, and is capable of charging 146 batteries within ten hours.

5. In 2012, Darpa contractor Teledyne is scheduled to deliver a prototype of a smart .50-caliber bullet that can adjust its trajectory for wind and humidity fluctuations.

* aerial surveillance
* Laser targeting for weapons
* delivery service of ammo, weapons or other supplies from the Squad Mission Support System

The system for loading different things into the UAV (based on a short command transmitted from someone up to a few miles away) could be like the automatic data cartridge loaders used in data centers. The UAVs would be sitting on top of the Squad robot vehicle where different stacks of cartridges could be loaded. The stack would rotate to the right cartridge and then get fed into a payload area. Then the UAV would fly and deliver it to soldiers up to a few miles away.

In the movie Saving Private Ryan, the character Upham was a runner with more ammo for the other soldiers. The UAV delivery service would be similar but faster and reliable.

The UAVs with extra power supplies from the Squad ground robot would provide a level of always available close air support to the squads.

* flying/driving range of 250 miles
* measure no more than 30 feet long by 8.5' wide and 9' high
* perform vertical take-off and landing
* carry four people
* perform unmanned operations
* and be easy enough to control that anyone who can drive a Humvee can also pilot the vehicle.
* Capable of handling small arms fire
* Quick entry and exit

The army of the future will rely heavily on robots and virtual reality.

1. Virtual soldiers will help medics learn to recognize and treat symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder and other mental illnesses.
2. Ground-based robots will swarm urban streets, building up real-time maps for urban combat.
3. Bird-sized quadcopters will hover through debris-strewn battlefields to surveil the enemy.
4. Robotic hands could take a few lessons from the versatile squid tentacle.
5. tiny mechanical wings could lead to impossibly small cyberflies on the wall.